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VANCOUVER — The Dalai Lama will headline a “spiritual dream team” of Nobel Peace Prize laureates and international activists at a peace summit this September in Vancouver.

Victor Chan, co-founder of Vancouver’s Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, said the Vancouver Peace Summit: Nobel Laureates in Dialogue, will take place Sept. 26 to 29.

Joining the Dalai Lama in Vancouver will be Bishop Desmond Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his work to end apartheid; tentatively environmental activist Dr. Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize; former Irish president Mary Robinson; spiritual writer Eckhart Tolle; and educators, philanthropists and entertainers such as the Blue Man Group.

During his visit, the Dalai Lama will also serve as guest editor of a special edition of The Vancouver Sun. The Dalai Lama will be the guest editor of the entire edition, which will be themed around “Educating the Heart.”

Chan said the summit’s unique lineup of moderated events will, ideally, be a “catalyst for change” in the world.

“The summit will offer discussion-based events at small venues like the Chan Centre and the Orpheum,” Chan said. The focus will be on the themes of peace, education, interfaith harmony, women and peace-building and youth.

“This is an opportunity for all of us to have a conversation with people who have accumulated a lot of knowledge around issues confronting humanity, the search for peace, the search for happiness,” Chan said.

Although the venues are relatively small, with limited seating, most will be open to the public. In addition, Chan said, there will be a “significant online presence,” with many events being live-streamed “to reach a global audience.”

Tickets will be available in late May or early June, and Chan expects them to go quickly. The last time the Dalai Lama came to Vancouver, “he spoke at GM place, selling out 30,000 tickets in a matter of hours.”

“These guests attending have a global constituency. We won’t be talking about abstract concepts. These are people that have been rolling up their sleeves and effecting real change in the world.”

The Free the Children Foundation will partner with the Dalai Lama Center to present a youth day featuring activists Craig and Marc Kielburger, a day of music, and thought-provoking dialogue with chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall and actress Mia Farrow that celebrates their philosophy of youth service and social involvement.

The Kielburgers’ Me to We event will be produced in collaboration with the B.C. ministry of education, and up to 15,000 students from around the province will attend at GM place.

Education is a key theme of the conference, Chan said. “Social responsibility is one of the four pillars in education in this province,” he said. “We are a little bit ahead of the curve and we could utilize this summit to move this aspect forward.

“This peace summit taking place now, before the Olympics, gives us the opportunity to showcase another aspect of Vancouver, to show the world that we are serious not just about athletic powers, but about other aspects of humanity,” he said.

The summit will include events such as “Connecting for Change,” an invitation-only dialogue with the Dalai Lama on how people from diverse sectors such as corporate finance, philanthropy and spirituality can work together “synergistically” to create positive change in the world.

“World Peace through Personal Peace” will feature the Dalai Lama in conversation with Tutu, Tolle and Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, “the world’s happiest man,” and another event on creativity and its contribution to well-being.

Education is a key component of the Peace Summit, Chan said.

University of B.C. associate professor Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, who works closely with B.C. educators, will be part of a panel with the Dalai Lama and Clyde Hertzman discussing the paths to fostering social and emotional well-being in children.

“We’ll be highlighting some of the work that is being done in B.C. that is unique to the world, such as mindfulness education,” Schonert-Reichl said.

“Mindfulness education is about helping kids learn strategies to really be aware of what they are thinking and feeling in the moment, appreciating the now, and really being attentive in relationships,” she said.

“In B.C., we’re the only place in the world where the promotion of social responsibility is one of the four performance standards of education,” Schonert-Reichl said. “It’s about practising democratic rights and responsibilities, contributing to classroom and community, promoting diversity and human rights, fostering empathy, compassion and altruism.”

Other activists and peace leaders include Jody Williams, who campaigned successfully to get more than a thousand non-governmental organizations to support the international campaign to ban land mines. Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for their work to end violence in Northern Ireland, will participate in an event exploring women and peacemaking.

Broadcaster, author and chair of the Special Olympics Maria Shriver will also participate in the summit.

Themes and events are still being developed and Chan said he expects more dignitaries to be confirmed as attendees in the coming months. Events are still in development as luminaries, Nobel laureates and intellectuals put put forth their ideas.

“We look forward to having a rich discussion about peace, something that has almost become a cliche, and to see specific, concrete ideas for change,” Chan said.

dryan@vancouversun.com

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